Improvement in feeders for cotton-gins



s. z. HALL. 4

y Cotton Feeder for Gin Stands.-

v I Patented Sept. 11,1860.

" UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

S. HALL, OF SEGUIN, TEXAS.

IMPROVEMENT IN FEEDERS FOR COTTON-GINS.-

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 29,968, dated Septemberll, 1861).

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, S. Z. HALL, of Seguin, in the county of Gaudaloupeand State of Texas, have invented a new and useful Improvement inCotton-Feeders for Gin-Stands; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my'improvement; Fig. 2, a side elevation of the same; Fig. 3, a verticallongitudinal section through the center of the same, and Figi 4 is aplan view of the swing-frame and the gear- .ing which it supports.

Similar letters of reference in each of the several figuresindicatecorresponding parts.

The first part of my invention consists in a certain arrangement ofmechanism, hereinafter described, for effecting a simultaneous anduniform movement of the endless apron and delivering-roller of agin-stand cotton-feeder.

The second part of my invention consists in the relative arrangement ofthe endless apron, toothed roller, and adjustable cut-off board of thehopper, whereby the quantity of cotton introduced to the roller by thebelt can be controlled, and thus a greater or less quantity be deliveredinto the gin-stand in a given time, as the necessity of the case maydemand.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe the construction and operation of the same. v

In the drawings, A represents the box of the feeder, which is intendedto be placed upon the top of an ordinary gin-stand in such relation tothe mouth of the same that the cotton shall be properly delivered to theginsaws.

O is a cylinder of the feeder. riphery of the said cylinder 0 areinserted small pins, which are of a suitable length to serve forcatching the pods of cotton and retaining them until they are carriedover the cylinder to a posit-ion which shall insure their delivery intothe mouth of the gin-stand.

D is an endless apron, upon which is placed the cotton intended to befed to the gin-saws,

said apron working around and being driven by the rollers 1 and 2, therollers receiving In the petheir motion from parts of the machineryhereafter to be described.

E is an adjustable feed-board, which is intended for regulating thequantity of cotton introduced by the feed-apron to thedelivering-roller, thus preventing a too rapid feed for the capacity ofthe gin and power.

F is an elevated hopper made of a suit able height to contain asufficient amount of cotton to allow the person in attendance to performthe necessary labor in the pick-room while the machines are inoperation, and also to avoid the necessity of cutting away the pick-roomwall or buildinglonger fines to the gin-stands already in place.

G is a cam-wheel, said cam-wheel being secured to shaft W and working ina slot in rocking lever I.

I is a rocking lever, to which are secured the pawls 3 and 4, said leverhaving a slot in one end, made to receive the cam-wheel G, and alsohaving a fulcrum or bearing on the end of roller 2.

H is a ratchet-wheel, which is secured to the roller 2, and into thenotches of said wheel H work the points of the pawls 3 and 4. Pawls 3and 4: are attached to the rocking lever I, and are for the purpose oftransmitting a forward motion to the endless apron D by means of theratchet wheel H, lever I, and camwheel G.

T 'l T are grate-bars, said bars being for the purpose of permittinghulls, leaves, trash, imperfect pods, and gravel to pass through,preventing their admission to the gin, securing the saws from injury,and producing a better sample of cotton than can be effected byhandfecding.

W is a cylinder-shaft, to which are secured the cam-wheel G, cylinder 0,and the frame M, with its attached gearing.

M is a frame or box,which contains the gearing N O O P I and shaft V.The cog-wheel Nis provided with a tubular shaft, upon which the frame Mis allowed to turn, and through said tubular shaft passes thecylinder-shaft W; To the shaft 0' are secured the worm O and beveledwheel P, said wheel being geared into a similar wheel secured on theshaft V.

Vis a counter-shaft, to which are secured the friction-pulley R andbeveled wheel P.

R is a friction-pulley, said pulley being for the purpose oftransmitting motion from the brush-belt of the gin-stand to the gearingN O O P P, cylinder 0, and apron D.

S is an elastic bar for adjusting and retaining the swinging frame,withits attached gearing, in any position it may be found proper to set it.By raising the loose end of this frame a certain height and insertingthe pin of the retaining-bar S in one of a series of holes in the sideof feeder-frame the feeding of the cotton to the gin-stand will bestopped, and by lowering the loose end of the swinging frame until thepulley R bears on the brushbelt of the saw-gin the feeding of the cottonwill again commence. The friction between the belt and the pulley R canbe increased or decreased by adjusting the loose end of the swing-frameand inserting the pin of the bar S in one of the series of holes in theside of the feeder-frame.

In Fig. 5 I have represented a modification of the mechanism forproducing the simultaneous movement of the delivering-roller and feed'a-pron. This consists simply of a shaft, a, with worms 1) b cut on itscircumference, as shown, and of two screw-wheels, c c, of differentdiameter, into which the Worm-threads gear. With this arrangement thepowertransmitting pulley has to be placed on the lower end of the shaft0, and the band which leads from the saw-gin has to be set edgewise,

so as to come in contact with it.

The above-described machine is for the purpose of feeding cotton in theseed to the ordi= 'nary cotton saw-gins in a uniform and economicalmanner, removing the greater portion of the sand and dirt which isunavoidably gathered with the cotton, separating the hulls, leaves, andimperfect pods, which injure the sample of the lint, producing a betterarticle of cotton than can be produced by the process of ordinaryhand-feeding, also being readily adapted to any gin-stands already inplace, and requiring only one person to operate both feeder andgin-stand, thereby saving the Wages of one hand to each gin run by thecottonplanter.

Operation: Cotton in the seed being placed in the box A, and the pulleyRbeing dropped on the brush-belt of the gin-stand, thereby communicatingmotion to the cylinder 0 and apron D by means of the gearing N O P P,cam-wheel G, rocking lever I, pawls 3 and 4, and ratchet-wheel H, thecotton is brought into contact with the points of the projecting 'wiresof cylinder 0 by the forward movement of the endless apron D, andcarried over said cylinder 0 and deposited in the mouth of thegin-stand.

' I do not claim feeding cotton in the seed to gin-stands by means of acylinder and an endless apron, they having been previously used; but

What I claim as myinvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination of the feed-apron D, de- 1 livering-roller (J, swingingframe M, with its attached gearing, and rocking lever I, with itsactuating-gearing, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

, S. Z. HALL.

Witnesses:

ABNER A. GILLESPIE, W. J. FOWLER.

